There has to be a reason for Thursday afternoon lethargy.  Insert James T. Kirk monologue here:  “Must…overCOME…this strange…senSAtion!”  (Bear with me, I’m getting to the recipe…)   

“Captain!  I dunno how much longer the dilithium crystals are gonna hold out — we could lose our gravitational field at any moment!”  (Thrash about in mock dramatic moves here, if desired.)

Yup.  No “Bones” about it — the only cure is to cook something, quickly.  All I could think of was pasta salad…

By my calculations (and Spock’s), this will “energize” you faster than you can fire a phaser.  (Profuse apologies to any non-Star Trek fans… )  When intergalactic equilibrium is at stake, pasta salad is the answer.

Spring Salad

8 oz. pasta shells

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 c. green onions (including tops), thinly sliced

1/2 c. celery, diced

1/2 c. toasted pecans

1/4 c. dried cranberries

Dressing

1 clove garlic

1/2 t. Kosher salt

1/2 lemon, squeezed

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 to 2 T. sugar

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/3 to 1/2 c. Miracle Whip (ordinarily I’d use mayonnaise, but I was humoring the hubby…)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Dash of curry powder

Cook pasta according to package directions until “al dente;” drain, then transfer to a large bowl.  Toss with 1 T. olive oil and stir in remaining salad ingredients.

To prepare the dressing, measure the salt onto a cutting board.  Mince the garlic with the salt until it’s very fine (almost paste-like); transfer it to a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  Add the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and sugar.  Give it a good stir (I use a fork), then slowly drizzle in the olive oil (while stirring) until it forms an emulsion.  Mix in the Miracle Whip and season with freshly ground pepper and curry powder to taste.

Combine dressing with salad ingredients; toss to coat.  Chill until ready to serve.

This salad is “out of this world.”  Beam me up.

Enjoying life at warp speed,

Kim

Psalm 148:13

P.S.  My quirky sense of humor will emerge on this blog now and then.  To reassure you that I’m still “down to earth,” here’s a recent photo from our corner of the galaxy.